CVE-2021-24954 in User Registration, Login Form, User Profile & Membership Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/13/2021
The User Registration, Login Form, User Profile & Membership WordPress plugin before 3.2.3 does not sanitise and escape the ppress_cc_data parameter before outputting it back in an attribute of an admin dashboard page, leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting issue
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/16/2021
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-24954 affects the User Registration, Login Form, User Profile & Membership WordPress plugin version 3.2.2 and earlier. This security flaw resides within the plugin's handling of user input data within the WordPress admin dashboard environment. The issue manifests when the plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape the ppress_cc_data parameter before incorporating it into HTML attributes of admin pages, creating a condition that allows malicious actors to execute reflected cross-site scripting attacks against authenticated administrators.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and output escaping practices within the plugin's codebase. When administrators access certain admin dashboard pages, the plugin processes the ppress_cc_data parameter without adequate sanitization measures, allowing malicious payloads to be reflected back to the browser. This parameter typically contains credit card data or similar sensitive information that gets processed through the plugin's user management functionality. The vulnerability specifically affects the HTML attribute context where the unsanitized data is embedded, making it susceptible to XSS exploitation when the data contains script tags or other malicious code.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to WordPress site administrators who may be targeted by attackers seeking to compromise their systems. The reflected nature of the XSS means that an attacker would need to entice an administrator to click on a malicious link containing the exploit payload, typically through social engineering or phishing techniques. Once executed, the malicious script could perform actions such as stealing administrator session cookies, modifying user permissions, accessing sensitive data, or even redirecting the administrator to malicious sites. The attack vector requires administrative privileges to be effective, making it particularly dangerous in environments where administrators have elevated access rights.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which categorizes cross-site scripting flaws as a critical security weakness in web applications. It also maps to ATT&CK technique T1566, which covers social engineering tactics including spearphishing with malicious attachments or links. Organizations using affected plugin versions should immediately update to version 3.2.3 or later to remediate this vulnerability. The recommended mitigation strategy involves implementing proper input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms, specifically ensuring that all user-provided data is properly validated and escaped before being rendered in HTML contexts. Additionally, administrators should consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities to detect potential exploitation attempts.